Is PC gaming cheap or expensive compared to consoles?

This is why I have no debt and will have paid off a mortgage on a home built in 2013 in 9 years...I don't do shit like this...

Its as cheap or expensive as you want it to be....

And nobody "needs" to upgrade,they want to.

@bforrester420: what if he can afford it?

Really depends on what you want... a PC can be really cheap, or it can be as expensive as you want it to be. I could build a PC that cost 5k, but I could also make a completely usable budget PC that would play games for $500-600.

Initially it's more expense, but over the life time it evens out since games are found much cheaper.

Let's say I didn't have my gaming PC.

Firstly, I still need a PC and/or tablet for every day computing anyways. That's $200-$400 on the cheap side, and you get a bad experience

Add in a console for gaming, and that's another $400 + $50 a year for life.

And then now I'm paying a premium on every game, there are almost never game sales near the level PC provides, the only way to expand my games is through $10-$15 DLC, the F2P game choices are awful, and the overall game selection is poor to begin with.

Or I could just use the $700-$800 PC I have now that was built a few years ago (if you built one for $800 today it'd absolutely destroy my PC and every console).

And I get an all-in-one device that does gaming AND normal computing far better than the previous choices, I don't pay online fees, I get amazingly good game deals and tons of free mods/dlc, and I have access to the best selection of games from the most varied library of any platform.

So yeah, I'd say it IS cheap in comparison to consoles. Much cheaper, in fact.

I'm not judging...to each his own. I'd never tell someone how to spend their money unless they asked or they couldn't meet their obligations. I've just never understood what compels people to spend extravagantly on items when something considerably less expensive could essentially do the same job (cars, for example). I guess I'd rather retire young than game in 4k vs. 1080p.

@bforrester420: well he's also from the socialist UK so maybe that's all different. And it might be used for work on the side because Clyde was talking about 4K video and I think he went to school for something related to movies/TV

pc gaming can be cheaper than console gaming, but it can also be more expensive.

if you want an experience superior to ps4, then it will cost more.

O'course it is.

It all depends on the games Heil, I'd say if you only get games during the sales then yea over all they'll be cheaper, while AAA games are usually still full price.

Why should I settle for "middle of the road"? Sure I can buy a Civic over a classic 1969 Mustang but I sure as hell will have more fun in a Mustang. Whats the point in life if you don't enjoy yourself? I earn about £2000 a month, I pay about £400 in rent. That leaves me with £1600 left, about £150 on bills like phone and fuel for my car, I've still got around £1500 a month to do what I want with. I can't take it with me when I die so I might as well use the money for what its intended for.... spending....

If you're using it for work, that changes the dynamic completely. I would personally see it as over-the-top if it were just for video games.

Then again, I do stupid shit too...I just paid $600 for an Arc'teryx Gore-Tex shell jacket.

entry cost is more expensive

It all just depends, mang.

@clyde46: what the hell your rent is cheap as hell >.< well if I converted it to US dollars correctly.

maybe in a flatting situation

Bad end of town.

pc gaming has always been way cheaper for me.

sure you pay double for hardware but the real expense is software and that beats console game prices by a mile.

especially if you can wait 6 months to buy a game you want.

A gaming PC on SAME graphics as consoles costs LESS....on Better graphics cost more.

Also poor people love expensive PCs while rich people love cheap consoles....funny e?

The initial investment into building a good gaming caliber PC is high, but the long term costs are lower.

If someone has an outdated pc then they need to upgrade.

Which one is cheaper depends on each individiuals spending habits. i know some people who buy pc games they're anticipating at launch full price and then buy games on sale that they probably would have never bought otherwise.

They're about the same to me.

Gaming PC = console + non-gaming PC/laptop.

Not to mention that on PC we don't have to pay to play online, that's $50 per year across the entire life of the system added on top of more expensive games that also go on sale less often and for far less of a discount.

It gets a bit cheaper on the long run if you factor in the 6-7 years of online play(50$\year) and the 10$ price difference on a lot of releases(thanks GMG for 25% off a lot of pre-orders!)

Only if they want to play the newest games,there are still 10's of thousands of games you can play on outdated Pc's

Hardware can be more expensive than console hardware, especially if you are an enthusiast. However, due to poor console hardware improvement over the generations, there has been little incentive for me to upgrade. Thanks to generation 8, I'm now at a record of 1.5 year without upgrade, and still gaming at 1440p with max settings.

The truly cost-saving part about PC gaming that completely nukes consoles through the ground is the cost of games. PC games by default are $10 cheaper than their console equivalents. With sites like Steam, GOG, GMG & HumbleBundle constantly offering deals, you will very rarely buy even new games at the full $40 price tag. Further, due to the vast number of games available and constantly coming out on PC, you will very rarely have the time to play more than one new release at a time, leading to a cancerous backlog that's constantly growing... and growing. By the time you get to that backlog some of those games may be anywhere from half price to dirt cheap! I'm not talking about poorly made games either, I'm talking about AAA titles like Deus Ex HR and Tomb Raider being sold at $5 a pop. Heck, I even bought GTA4 and its DLCs for just $5 awhile ago.

Judging by the number of games I have in my Steam library alone, I have saved at least 6-8 grand over the years on PC compared to buying those games on console.

Can be as expensive or as cheap as you want. I built my 450 dollar rig in 2010 and haven't looked back.

#donthatecranberryjuice

depends on how much you want to spend. It could be infinitely more expensive, infinitely cheaper or for most people pretty much the same.

You could always, I don't know, invest a portion of it so you can quit working some day.

It depends a bit on how many games you buy a year, and how. But generally I'd say PC is more expensive to buy into but more cost effective over time.

I just recently put together a computer and am waiting on my GTX 980.

Without counting the 1440p monitor it will cost me 1260USD in all which is counting tax and shipping and that is with the GTX 980 price being added in.

But keep in mind I am using much better quality and performance parts than what any console could dream of.

it should perform 4x better than the PS4 when I oc my GPU a bit.

I could of gone with less but I want to enjoy games at 1440p.

i7 4770k

Noctua NH-D14 cpu heatsink

8GB 1600mhz ddr3

Asus Maximus VI Hero

Corsair Air 540 case +3 cougar 120mm fans

Qnix 27' 2560x1440 monitor

2x1TB Western Digital blues

Corsair HX1000

Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 v1.0

Etekcity M555 mouse

Cost for 1 game per month for 6 years on console: $4320

Cost for 1 game per month for 6 years on PC: $3600

Any initial investment in PC hardware is negated over the life of a console generation by the offset in game prices. And that's not even taking into account Steam sales.

far more expensive, my new monitor alone is going to cost me $1100

And don't forget xbl or psn cost for 7 years $350, but they are superior services to steam.

People still saying pc is cheaper? It's fact it's more expensive, unless its ghetto with a cardboard case and hooked up to your neighbors power outlet. Makes no sense pc needs some special power supply and all this crazy extra stuff--gotta buy a operating system, keyboard, sound card, graphics card, air conditioner, boards, cards, and not to mention those gaming pcs eat up some fucking power and loud as fucking lawn mower.

You need to work on your trolling skills.

...and how are they superior exactly?

@RyviusARC:

Not trolling it's the truth. Gaming pc eats more energy than a windowed air conditioner.

lolwut?

@RyviusARC said:

@lostrib said:

@Heirren: how much is a lot?

I just recently put together a computer and am waiting on my GTX 980.

Without counting the 1440p monitor it will cost me 1260USD in all which is counting tax and shipping and that is with the GTX 980 price being added in.

But keep in mind I am using much better quality and performance parts than what any console could dream of.

it should perform 4x better than the PS4 when I oc my GPU a bit.

I could of gone with less but I want to enjoy games at 1440p.

i7 4770k

Noctua NH-D14 cpu heatsink

8GB 1600mhz ddr3

Asus Maximus VI Hero

Corsair Air 540 case +3 cougar 120mm fans

Qnix 27' 2560x1440 monitor

2x1TB Western Digital blues

Corsair HX1000

Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 v1.0

Etekcity M555 mouse

I want to get that case

http://energyusecalculator.com/electricity_computer.htm

109$ for a whole year for 500watts around 6 hours per day

http://detectenergy.com/2012/08/08/air-conditioner-power-consumption/

A room air conditioner would be a portable, freestanding model or one that is installed in a window opening. This sized A.C. is often rated about 12,000 Btu and uses 1500 watts per hour. If you use this air conditioner 200 hours per month it will use 300 kilowatt hours of electricity. At 11.5 cents per kWh that’s $34.50 per month. - See more at: http://detectenergy.com/2012/08/08/air-conditioner-power-consumption/#sthash.gU9qSOEt.dpuf

34.50$ x 12 = 414$

top kek

@MonsieurX:

I pulled that out of my ass. Wanted to see what response would come up. It's still more expensive. I'm not on psn online because the ps4 is a piece of garbage. Wiiu has the best online. It's no nonsense and free.

would have to be a hell of a gaming pc and a very efficient air conditioner.

basically - you're wrong again.

But you were not supposed to be trolling

@MonsieurX:

Pc still eats more energy than consoles.

Keep in mind I think ps4 is a terrible console.

PC gaming can be pretty expensive when building, but it's worth it for the games.

Sales on PC gaming sites happen all the time, you can get a game that's $60 for nearly half the price on PC. Or the amount of money you would spend for New Console games you can probably get double the amount of those games on PC given the right sales and moment.

Right now you can get Skyrim Legendary Edition for $13.59 on Steam. The 360 and PS3 copies are $31.99 and $38.91 right now on Amazon.